Blood, Feathers, Mistakes and Lies
by FredGirl
Summary: Tibarn's life becomes focused on a single purpose: getting revenge for what Naesala had done. Tibarn/Naesala. Rated T for now, but is bordering on M for themes and violence.
1. Mortal enemies

A/N: I couldn't work out whether I liked TibarnXNaesala or NaesalaXLeanne better, but as there are less TibarnXNaesala fics I decided to do that pairing. I might do NaesalaXLeanne next, but I do suck at getting Naesala's personality right. This is kind of a side fic, I will be focusing on my Stuck in Fire Emblem story more, so the updates on this one will be less frequent. It is set after the events of Radiant Dawn, (SPOILERS) but presuming that Daein didn't side with Begnion and the Laguz Alliance won the war against Begnion, as well as presuming that Naesala still has the blood pact mark and the brid tribes were still seperate.

Oh, and I should also mention that this is based on two Roleplays I did with friends of mine (thanks Dhaken and Pasywasy). Sorry about the long A/N.

.: And just like that, everything breaks. It all shatters, and then you have nothing left. Nothing but the emptiness inside you and the knowledge that you have to continue on alone :.

The image of the dead bodies strewn throughout the ruins of Phoenicis still gave Tibarn nightmares, even though he refused to admit it. It always swam just below the surface of his mind, resurfacing whenever he was alone. The smell of rotting flesh, the hundreds of crying families, the blood seeping into the earth… Tibarn shook his head vigorously, trying to free himself unsuccessfully from the image. He had to find Naesala, and make him pay for what he had done. This was all his doing; he would avenge the deaths of his brothers.

He flew through the skies of Begnion, towards the palace. He had heard rumours that Naesala was staying there with the Apostle, hiding from him. He would rip out every single one of that conniving traitorous scum's feathers until he was practically begging for death. Naesala was not going to elude him any longer.

Then, he saw him, sitting on a balcony in the royal palace, staring off into the distance. Time seemed to freeze, and he hung in mid air, gazing down upon his prey… His prey? Even from this distance, Naesala's eyes did not look like those of a killer. They looked like the eyes of someone who had suffered through too much to ever fully recover, and for a moment Tibarn's resolve faltered. Did Naesala truly deserve to die?

.: Death would have been the easy way out :.

Naesala pretended not to notice as Tibarn landed on the balcony. He continued to stare of into space, keeping his mind blank.

"Naesala," Tibarn said coldly.

"Tibarn," Naesala replied in the same tone. "I'm guessing you've come to get your revenge."

"Yes." He stood there, unmoving.

"Well?" Naesala had expected him to jump straight to it. "I don't have all day you know. If you're going to kill me, do it now."

Tibarn looked slightly confused. "You want me to kill you?"

"It's what I deserve," the raven said quietly. "Do it, Tibarn. I killed them, every single one of them. I enjoyed it. The sight of their broken dead bodies, lying on the ground. And you couldn't do anything about it, you overgrown chicken." Of course, none of this was true. The sight had made Naesala throw up, again and again and again. He took no pleasure in killing the kin of the only man he had ever truly respected. He forced his lips into a smirk, and made his eyes back it up.

Tibarn's expression twisted from grim to angry. "I considered letting you live, but I can see that it was stupid. You shall pay for what you've done, you filthy piece of manure! I am going to make your death as painful as possible!"

The raven closed his eyes. He had always been good at knowing exactly what to say to make people angry. "You're a coward, Tibarn. You were just scared of killing me. I bet you don't mean that." Strong hands ripped out handfuls of his feathers, and he couldn't help but let out a small scream. Blood poured down his wings.

"I AM NOT A COWARD!" Tibarn yelled. He ripped out more and more of the raven's feathers as roughly as he could. His hands were covered with blood and feathers.

Pain shot through the most sensitive part of Naesala's body, pushing all thoughts from his mind. He smiled. This was more like it. Soon he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

.: Compassion is the curse of the strong at heart :.

Tibarn's rage consumed him. This was the man that was responsible for the deaths of his people. He deserved to die. He looked down upon Naesala with hatred. But then Naesala reopened his eyes, and he saw the hopeless, lost man he had become. There were tears in them, and the sight tugged at the hawk king's heartstrings. Could he really kill Naesala? What if he had a good reason to do what he did?

"What are you doing? Just kill me already!" Naesala rasped. He was covered with blood and both black feathers and ones that had fallen from Tibarn's wings.

Something inside Tibarn broke. "I… I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Just kill me! I'm a murderer, I deserve to die!" The tears spilled from Naesala's eyes and ran down his cheeks, catching blood and feathers as they went.

"No… You don't…" TIbarn couldn't believe he was saying this to this man, but he knew that it was the truth.

"It's too late anyway," Naesala said, his smile returning. "I'll bleed to death soon anyway." The raven slipped into unconsciousness.

.: For one who has dwelled in the shadows for so long, the light can burn :.

Cheerful huh? I hope it wasn't too OOC, but… I had to stop Tibarn killing him somehow. Review I guess, but flames will be used to cheer me up after writing something so depressing. I actually cried while writing this, but that's not uncommon. I always cry when I write sad stuff. It only gets more depressing from here, so be warned.


	2. But death just keeps coming back

A/N: Don't kill me for not updating… PLEASE!!! I've been busy and everything is just a complete pile of shit right now so I've been trying to sort stuff out and failing miserably. With things how they stand, I can only really continue one story and I think it's going to be this one. Sorry but… I'm doing the best I can.

* * *

.: I can't distinguish the nightmares from reality :.

Slowly, Naesala woke up. Why was he still alive? He thought Tibarn had killed him… Or maybe this was death? His wings still felt like a wind tome had shred them, but it felt like they had been bandaged. _That's strange, _Naesala thought. After several attempts, he managed to sit up and open his eyes. He was still on the balcony. But where was Tibarn?

"Nnng…" the Hawk mumbled.

Naesala jumped and realised Tibarn was lying next to him. There was blood pouring from what looked like an arrow wound in his chest. "Tibarn? What have you done to yourself now? Why haven't you killed me yet?"

"Because just after you lost consciousness I got spotted by some guards…" It was obvious he was having trouble talking.

"Idiot," Naesala muttered. "Don't talk." He got onto his knees and bent over Tibarn, checking the wound. It was almost an automatic response. He didn't think about the fact that he and Tibarn were supposed to be mortal enemies, or the fact that he himself should be resting. Carefully, he ripped strips of his shirt off and began to bandage the hawk king.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tibarn asked.

"Returning a favour." He gestured to his own bandaged wings. "I don't like being in debt to people. It's bad for the treasury."

Tibarn snorted. "Bad for the treasury, huh? And you don't owe me anything, I just treated injuries that I caused."

Once Naesala had finished, he said, "I still don't get it… Why didn't you kill me?"

Tibarn just grunted.

"A grunt is not any sort of satisfactory reply unless you're a pig." He poked Tibarn's wings. "Last time I checked, pigs didn't have wings."

To both of their shock, Tibarn shivered slightly at the contact. All of the bird tribes new that their wings were the most sensitive parts of their bodies (A/N: YES I KNOW THAT'S ILLOGICAL! It's called artistic licence.), but a reaction like that wasn't exactly normal. "I'm not a pig!" Tibarn yelled, ignoring Naesala's raised eyebrows.

"I'm sure, I'm sure," Naesala said boredly.

Neither of them heard the footsteps coming up behind them. The were too busy arguing over who was a pig. So, when none other than the Empress of Begnion said, "Just what is going on here?" they both nearly had a heart attack.

"I came to visit my dear friend Naesala," Tibarn lied pathetically.

Sanaki snorted. "Last time I checked, you and Naesala were mortal enemies. I am not a fool, Hawk King."

Naesala rolled his eyes so that only Tibarn could see and said "We made up last week, when I visited Phoenecis." You could almost hear him laughing internally at Tibarn's pathetic lie.

"You both seem to have forgotten the fact that you're both in bandages," Sanaki said dryly.

"Ah yes, the bandages," Naesala said, trying to come up with a good excuse. "The palace guards thought we were intruders, so they shot at us."

Sanaki sighed. "Well, in any case, King Tibarn shouldn't be here. I ask that you both leave immediately, before I have to call the guards."

"My dear empress, I never thought that you were blind. Look at my wings." There was a mocking edge to Naesala's tone.

"That shouldn't be a problem, I'm sure King Tibarn is strong enough to carry you. Since you're friends now, I doubt he'd mind."

Tibarn scowled, but said nothing. He simply picked Naesala up and leapt off the balcony.

.: A truce between two friends is short lived. A truce between two enemies can last a long, long time :.

Naesala clung to Tibarn. "You better not drop me, Hawk."

"I thought you _wanted_ me to kill you?" Tibarn said with a smirk.

"Yes, well, I'd rather not die by being dropped from a great height, thanks all the same."

Tibarn laughed and let Naesala drop a few meters.

"AH! TIBARN!" Naesala yelled.

Tibarn laughed even harder, dived, and scooped him up. "You're acting like a complete girl."

"I'm NOT a girl!" The raven protested.

"Okay then, you're acting like a gay guy."

"I'm not gay!"

By now, Tibarn was laughing so hard he was in danger of choking and Naesala was glaring at Tibarn so much that if looks could kill, all of Begnion would be dead. "Where are we going anyway?"

Naesala shrugged. "I don't know."

Tibarn sighed. "Helpful. And just so you know, this doesn't change anything between us. We're still enemies."

.: And so the truce ended :.

About an hour later, Naesala started coughing. It wasn't a normal I-have-a-cold cough, it was a hacking, cough-up-your-lungs cough. Tibarn pretended not to notice, or to care, but he knew that he did. He changed course and started heading to the only place where there were good healers he could trust— the Griel Mercenary camp.

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There you go. I hate the ending, I hate the chapter, I hate the tone of the chapter but HEY It's a chapter. If you're wondering why Tibarn was just lying there after being hurt and why they didn't just kill him, he pretended to be hurt worse than he was and played dead so they'd leave him alone. Sorry about the OOCness and suckiness. Let's face it, I can't write. Review if you can be bothered please.


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